The role of loneliness and social isolation plays into every aspect of human health, beyond mental and behavioral impacts: loneliness is a risk factor for overall health status and well-being, as well as a barrier to medication adherence, we learn in Loneliness and Health Behaviors: A Missing Link in Chronic Care from Pleio. Pleio launched the report at the Assembia AXS25 Conference in Las Vegas yesterday,

Pleio surveyed 2,008 U.S. adults in March 2025 living with at least one chronic condition to gauge patients’ perspectives on loneliness, health outcomes, and peoples’ adherence to prescribed medicines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top-line, three in four people say that loneliness affects their ability to complete daily tasks like meal prep or personal hygiene.

Furthermore, most people perceive that their chronic condition contributes to their feelings of loneliness — which becomes a sort of flywheel for un-well-being.

Note in the right side of the first chart the loneliness-daily task challenges by age group. It’s clear to see that younger people are much more likely than older folks to call out the relationship between their feelings of loneliness and subsequent ability (or inability) to manage daily routines, including walking a dog, brushing teeth on the personal hygiene task-list, and other regular activities of daily living. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the context of loneliness, patients experience a range of feelings: most likely, anxiety (among over three-fourths of lonely patients), depression or sadness (among 63%), fear (for 43% of people), misunderstanding and mistrust (for 2 in 5 patients).

Loneliness among patients dealing with chronic condition is a risk factor for optimally managing diseases; for example,

  • 59% of patients lost motivation to go to medical appointments
  • 56% of patients struggled to retain information at point of diagnosis, and most of these patients wished someone (an advocate?) had helped them understand the clinical information delivered int he encounter, and,
  • 34% of patients reported a life-threatening health event that happened due to difficulty managing their conditions on their own.

 

 

 

 

 

We recently learned in the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer’s health and trust report that health citizens, globally, trust peer-to-peer health care advice on par with information from scientists and academics.

Thus it is natural for patients to find support in social networks — general communities in social media as well as patient-specific health care networks. Note in the bubble chart that when loneliness feels “the worst,” patients turn first to family and friends, then to social media.

 

 

 

 

 

Health Populi’s Hot Points:  Authenticity is key, Pleio asserts. It’s not just “communication,” but connection that matters to patients who feel loneliness.

The two vital side effects of true connection are….empathy and understanding, not just the facts, ma’am.

As I continue to be involved in the research and client stakeholders in and adjacent to health, all keen to address the “from bowling alone to eating alone” reality for millions of people, the Pleio report rings true in this growing evidence base. We’ve known for many years that depression and anxiety were frequent companions with chronic disease diagnoses. We are coming to appreciate the next level of this many-layered challenge: that is loneliness, and its direct impact on health and medicines risks to individual patients, families, and communities.